Dying Breath
by nightmareofcat
Summary: Sent back to earth without his powers, Loki must learn the feeling of love and betrayal before he can regain his magic. For months he seduced the notorious Black Widow. When he has her, can he keep her? Warning: character death and feels.


It had been months of careful planning and subtlety that finally lead up to Loki being able to claim the notorious Black Widow as his own. At least to claim the luscious form of her body.

Claiming the razor thin edge of her wit and almost unfathomable mind took only slightly less time, after all it was her mind that finally told her to throw caution to the wind and let the God of Lies be within her intimate embrace.

What Loki had not counted on was her past with the archer Barton. Though he had known from the bird man's own psyche what that past entailed, Loki had wrongly assumed that what the two had shared was indeed,still in the past.

Oh how wrong he had been.

Loki had indeed fallen hard for the assassin-spy, he was on the verge of telling her as such. Loki had also assumed that the assassin felt the same way, oh how wrong he was. Walking through the halls of The Avengers Tower, Loki slowly made his way towards the rooms he shared with the lovely Natasha.

Almost giddy with childish excitement at the prospect of telling her how he had fallen in desperate love with her, he arrived at the door leading into the chamber.

Humming a jaunty little melody under his breath, Loki walked through the living area of the apartment, towards the bedroom door. It wasn't until he gently touched the door handle that he noticed the incessant moans and short screams coming from within the chamber. Fearing that somehow an intruder made his way into his room and attacked the precious female inside.

He swung open the door, probably with more force than necessary. What greeted him was most certainly not what he expected or wanted to see. There,tangled in the same sheets he and Natasha shared, was said woman in the intimate embrace of Clint Barton.

It was all Loki could do to stare at the scene before him, they didn't even hear him enter. His precious Natasha sat astride Barton, moaning like a wanton whore as he thrust himself into Natasha's quim. It wasn't until Clint sat up that he saw the God, who stood still as stone in the door frame.

"Oh shit." Was all Clint said before he toppled Natasha off of his lap, springing to the opposite side of the bed for his clothes.

Recovering from being launched like a rocket from Clint's lap, Natasha looked at what spooked him. There in the door frame, silently heaving for breath stood look on his face spoke more than words could ever express, a look of utter betrayal. The gravity of what exactly he saw hit Natasha like Thor's hammer, right to the chest.

"Oh my god Loki, no! This is not really what it looks like." Natasha spoke softly, trying not to set off the volatile God in front of her.

"Really, dearest? Because it looks remarkably like you were riding Barton like an untamed stallion. Correct me if I'm wrong on this account." Loki glanced between the two briefly before affixing his broken gaze to the sheets, that the spies just vacated.

"Clint came over to say goodbye, he got transferred to another base for the next 6 months. Neither of us were planning on this happening,but it did. I know there are no words to describe what you saw but it was all a mistake, a spur of the moment thing that we did not plan on at all. One minute we were talking in the living room and the next thing I remember is being thrown half way across the room." Natasha walked slowly towards Loki, not sure if she should be afraid or not. Speaking again in a low murmur Natasha gently touched his arm, "Loki you have to know I would not normally do this, knowing what you have been through, betraying you would be on the bottom of my list of things to do."

Feeling the gentle touch on his arm from Natasha jolted Loki away from the mental movie playing in his fractured psyche, the mental horror story of Odin revealing his heritage, of Thor and the other warriors making slights of his magical prowess…..the images of Natasha breaking what was left of his fragile heart. Wrenching his arm away from her, Loki backed away slowly like the wounded animal he was.

"That must have been a very short list, Agent Romanov, it seems you have indeed reached the bottom of that list." With those parting words Loki spun on his heel and fled the apartment like a green and black tornado.

Quickly donning a robe, Natasha ran after him. In the short time it took her to reach the hallway on the outside of the apartment, he was already to the elevator doors.

"Loki, wait!" Natasha yelled after him just as the elevator doors opened. Catching up to him before the doors closed took a sprint that would have put Olympic runners to shame. "Loki please, let's go somewhere and talk about this like rational adults. It was a mistake, I admit that. Please do not run away and do something crazy."

Looking into her clear blue eyes, all Loki could do was give a self-depreciating smile and a huff of false laughter. Glancing at the love bites he had given her just earlier that day on her clavicle, exposed by the part in the top her robe.

"Natasha…..its ok, you don't need to explain yourself." She took an involuntary step back and gaped, Loki continued speaking. The depreciating smile still on his face. "Honestly I understand why you did it. Like Stark said when I got here, who could ever learn to care for a monster like me? I thought the same thing not so long ago. How could anyone ever be honest or love a despicable creature such as myself?Heh, for weeks now I've thought long and hard on how you could ever let a creature like myself into your bed, let alone into your heart. Now I know I've been deluding myself, thinking that you would ever grow to care for me." Stepping towards her, raising his hand to gently stroke his knuckles along her cheek he continued. "Go Natasha, go back to the archer. Finish your goodbye to him, it will be a long while before he comes back for you. He loves you, always has."

Wrapping her in his warm loving arms, he placed a soft kiss to her temple. Feeling the tears start to run down his cheek he whispered into her ear. "I love you, Natasha."

He released her from his embrace, backing away slowly, a sad smile still on his face and tears dripping from his broken emerald gaze. Feeling a sudden surge in his veins, Loki realized that the one being that could break him completely was also the one that just gave him back a fragment of his magic. Just a tiny spark, but enough for him to work a simple spell.

Gazing into Natasha's tear stained eyes, Loki mentally prepared his spell before backing further away. "Goodbye Natasha, thank you for giving this monster a chance to feel his heart for one last time."

With those parting words Loki vanished into a cloud of green mist.

Natasha was devastated, completely and utterly devastated. She stood by and did nothing as the man, no God, that she had come to love disappear before her very eyes. That look the he had given her, the look of absolute desolation, the same look he gave Odin when he found out his true parentage, the look that tore her insides apart.

Betrayal, unadulterated betrayal. Is this the feeling he had when he saw her? The same gut wrenching feeling of dread and despair that tore his tattered heart to shreds when he saw her bouncing on another man's cock? Now she knew, it was the same feeling. Now she knew what it felt like to truly feel.

Natasha didn't hear Barton approach. Nor did she feel as he picked her up and carried her back to her room, gently placing her back in the same bed they had both soiled. The bed where she now realized, she had fallen hard for the mischief maker himself. There she wept, crying fattened tears. Feeling true regret for what happened, for what Loki saw and what she had caused him to feel once again.

Natasha did not notice when Clint tucked her into the bed, or when he murmured his apologies for what he unknowingly did to the hearts of both people. She did not notice when her phone began to ring, she ignored the voicemail Fury left her wanting to know why the bag of cats crazy Asguardian suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Four months passed in this fashion. The other Avengers came to occasionally check on her, bring her food and drink. The only signs that Natasha actually left the bed were the damp towels in the bathroom and the one time they saw her leave to see a doctor.

No one in The Avengers Tower was prepared for the sudden explosion that rocked the upper floors. Nor were they expecting Jarvis to inform them that Loki had crash landed on the landing pad of the balcony.

Thor was the first person to arrive at Loki's side, followed closely by Natasha. Arriving at his side, the spy was not prepared for the state they found the Loki in. Lacerations too numerous to count, gaping hole where his stomach should be, both legs broken and breaking the skin. Carefully grasping the least injured hand, Natasha called his name.

With a groan Loki opened his eyes to the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Natasha gave him a watery smile, the other Avengers scrambling behind them to get any medical supplies they could find. Bruce was able to shoulder his way past Thor to examine the damage to his brother. Several tense moments past as the supplies were brought to Bruce. Giving the fallen prince a thorough exam, all he could do was shake his head. Everyone now knew Loki would not make it, no matter how much medical attention he was given.

Natasha sobbed openly, not wanting to believe what Dr. Banner said.

Leaning down closer to the barely conscious God, the assassin started to speak to him. "Loki thank goodness you here. You have to work your magic and try to heal, you hear me?! You have to be ok, you know why? You're going to be a father Loki. That's right you'regoing to be a daddy, we can't do this without you. I was stupid but I can see clear now, I love you damn it. I love you so much it physically hurts, this baby needs you Loki, I need you. Please, please you just have to make it." Natasha finally broke down and began to sob once again.

Using what little strength he had, Loki lifted his other hand. Brushing a hair behind her ear he wheezed out his final words. "Dearest Natasha, I'm sorry for leaving like I did. No words can express how sorry I am that I will not be able to see your little one grow, or see you swell with my baby. I used the last of my magic to ensure the safety of your world. This is goodbye, darling. I still love you, my precious Natasha."

Wrapping her arms around his broken form, Natasha whispered one last "I love you" into Loki's ear, just as she felt him exhale his last breath.


End file.
